Starmer says he hopes social media ban for under-16s will come into force next spring – UK politics live | Politics

Q: Do you think there is a link between smartphone use and the epidemic of mental health problems that young people are having?

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Starmer replied:

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I think there is a correlation. Obviously establishing hard evidence is always difficult, but I do think there’s a correlation.

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He did not go as far as saying there was a causal relationship.

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Q: How will you explain this to President Trump, whose administration has opposed this?

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Starmer replied:

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Look, I honestly think that, across world leaders, there has always been a recognition that leaders have to take steps to protect children. I don’t think that’s controversial.

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Starmer said he did not anticipate a problem.

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And he said he would be discussing this with other world leaders, including Trump, at the G7 later.

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Q: Will you fine children who ignore the ban? And what are the implications for freedom of speech?

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On teenagers, Starmer said:

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We’re not going to start taking action against 13 or 14, 15-year-olds who are trying, as they always will, to get around the rules that adults put in their path.

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And, on freedom of speech, Starmer said:

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I’m a great advocate of free speech, I really am.

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But sending sexually explicit pictures to and from children – that’s not free speech, that’s basic protection.

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Q: Is this announcement about you wanting a political legacy?

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Starmer said there were people in the room who have been campaigning for years on this issue. He went on:

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And I think we do them and all those who’ve been concerned about this, a disservice to try to put that into a particular week where there’s a byelection. That’s not what it’s about.

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This is a huge this is a statement of our values, who we are as a country. and it’s a way of actually bringing our country together.

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So for me, this is bigger than some of the usual to and fros of politics, although there’s plenty of that.

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Q: Will this stop children accessing useful services? And won’t teenagers get round this with VPN services?

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Starmer said some services, like YouTube Kids, would be protected.

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He repeated the point about how some children will get round this. (See 8.27am.)

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And he said the government had learned from the Australian experience.

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I think we’ll be better at enforcing it, actually, having learned from the Australian model and having learned from our own experience with the Online Safety Act.

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So I genuinely think we can enforce it.

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Q: When did you change your mind on this?

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Starmer says he started the consulation with an open mind.

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It is a step that I’ve taken after sitting down and listening, particularly to parents who had lost, usually a teenager, in relation to what happened on social media …

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[I am taking the decision] having looked at the evidence, having gone through the consultation, having looked at what happened in other countries, having listened, to parents, grieving parents, listened hard.

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And you can listen in two ways. You could listen in a sense if you’re just going through the motions, or you can listen and you can take in what people are saying to you.

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I’m in the second category – always have been – and that’s why I’m absolutely clear in my mind that this ban is the right outcome.

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Starmer is now taking questions.

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Q: When will this start?

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Starmer says the government can move quickly.

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We took powers, earlier this year to make sure we could move at speed.

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I was very conscious that with the Online Safety Act it took the last government eight years from sort of identifying the beginnings of the problem to actually passing legislation, and [I] was determined that will not happen in this case.

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He says legislation already passed gives ministers the powers to act using secondary legislation.

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He says:

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We hope to pass regulation before Christmas, and therefore to bring the ban into force in the early part of next year, probably about springtime, so we can move a real pace here.

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Starmer acknowledges some teenagers will get round these restrictons. But that does not make the rules pointless, he says.

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Will it mean that no child ever looks at social media again? No.

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But look, this might shock you, but it doesn’t shock parents of teenagers; they get around other laws too.

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But we don’t say, ‘Look, a teenager managed to get a drink somehow, so let’s not bother banning alcohol sales to children.’ We don’t do that, do we? That will be utterly ridiculous. And so I just don’t accept that argument.

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Starmer says he knows tech companies will oppose this.

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Some technology companies want us to think that social media is unchangeable, part of an almost natural order.

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But we have to resist that kind of learned helplessness. We have agency, we can change it, and we will.

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Yes, it’s hard to legislate for, hard to regulate, hard to enforce.

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And we’re not just bringing forward a ban, we’re going further. We’re taking world-leading action on gaming services and live streaming platforms, where at the moment strangers can contact any child unchecked.

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Starmer is now explaining why he is doing this.

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This is not something I do lightly, and I will not present it as cost free, as if social media has brought no benefits to young people, because clearly that is wrong.

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But government is always about choices, and it’s clear to me that a full ban is the right choice.

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I come to it as a parent myself. I know exactly the fears that we all feel when we’re thinking about this issue. You know, all I’ve ever wanted for my own children, hand on heart, is for them to be happy and for them to be safe. And I think that’s what any parent wants.

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But I ask the question now; do we truly believe that social media creates a happy environment for our children? Do we truly believe that it’s a place where they can feel safe?

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I don’t think I even need to answer those questions, do I?

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Every parent can see it with their own eyes. Social media is making children unhappy. It’s making it easier for bullies to harass and abuse them, and it could even be harming their mental health, exposing them to content that is dangerous because that’s what grabs the attention.

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It’s designed to be addictive – of course it is. Features like the Infinite Scroll – they’re designed to lock you in for hours.

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And if nothing else, there’s an opportunity cost to that. It stops children doing their homework, reading, playing with their friends outside, going to bed at decent hour.

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Starmer confirms the ban is happening.

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Today is a big moment for our country. This is a big step, a real change for our children and our future.

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Because today I can announce that the government will ban access to social media for all children under the age of 16.

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Starmer turns to the social media ban, and he says he is glad that people who have been campaigning for a ban are in the room in Downing Street to hear the announcement.

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Some people are dismissive of processes like this, but policy making that doesn’t listen very carefully to the voices of those it seeks to serve – that is not how this government carries out its business. And so I just want to thank you for the role that you have all played.

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This is an implicit acknowledgement that the government has changed its mind on this issue.

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Here is an explainer by Dan Milmo and Aisha Down about the plans Keir Starmer is about to announce.

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Good morning. In Downing Street officials reportedly refuse to talk about Keir Starmer wanting to establish a legacy. But it is hard for the rest of us to avoid the word, particularly on a morning when he has summoned reporters to Downing Street for an 8am press conference on his plans for a social media ban. In lobby terms, this counts as unconscionably early. The announcement could easily wait. But Starmer is heading to France for the G7 summit later, that will keep him busy until Wednesday night, and on Thursday it’s the Makerfield byelection. Starmer is determined to make this announcement before then because Andy Burnham seems on course to become an MP in the early hours of Friday and at that point UK politics may start to change drastically – and Starmer’s window for legacy making may swiftly close.

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Last summer the UK government showed little interest in following the Australian government when it announced its social media ban for under-16s. Within months the view in government was changing, and by early 2026 Starmer said there would definitely be some sort of crackdown. But he suggested he was still undecided between a full social media ban for under-16s, and alternative measures to crackdown on the most harmful features of these apps.

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In the end, Starmer seems to have gone for both these options – under measures being described as “Australia plus”. Jessica Elgot, Dan Milmo and Aisha Down have details here in our overnight story.

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The Conservatives are saying Starmer is following their lead. Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, said:

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It’s shameful that it’s taken the prime minister’s job to be on the line for the government to finally u-turn and ban social media for under 16s.

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Three times Labour voted against a ban, failing to stand up to Big Tech and protect children from the extreme content they are exposed to every day.

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As Conservatives we did not give up, I kept fighting for the brave bereaved parents, health professionals, and campaigners who continued to make the case for change. This victory belongs to them. The Conservatives in opposition can make a difference and this change will finally help parents and protect childhood.

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Here is the agenda for the day.

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8.10am: Keir Starmer holds a press conference about his plans for a social media ban for under-16s.

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10am: Starmer is interviewed on ITV’s This Morning.

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11am: Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s Treasury spokesperson, holds a press conference. The party has flagged this to journalists as a Jenrick press conference, but Politico says Farage will be there too – perhaps provoked by the Financial Times joining the Guardian in writing about how his enthusiasm for media scrutiny seems to have mysteriously vanished since the revelations about his £5m donation from a crypto billionaire.

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11am: Kemi Badenoch holds a press conference.

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11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

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2.30pm: Steve Reed, the housing secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

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After 3.30pm: Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, makes a statement to MPs about the social media ban for under-16s. And we are also expecting a statement from Dan Jarvis, the new defence secretary, about British troops seizing a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the Channel.

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4pm: Antonia Romeo, the cabinet secretary, gives evidence to the Commons public adminstration and constitutional affairs committee.

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Afternoon: Starmer arrives in Evian in France for the G7 summit.

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If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (between 10am and 3pm), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.

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If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.

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I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.

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Key events